
Jacek Zielonka, PhD, DSc
Assistant Professor; Research Director, Free Radical Research Center
Locations
- Biophysics
TBRC C0780
Contact Information
Education
PhD with honours, Chemistry, Lodz University of Technology, Poland, 2002
MSc with honours, Chemistry and Chemistry Technology, Lodz University of Technology, Poland, 1998
Biography
After completing my PhD training in 2002, I worked for 1.5 years as a lecturer at the Lodz University of Technology in Poland. In 2004, I joined the Department of Biophysics as a postdoctoral fellow, working on the chemistry of probes for cellular oxidizing species. In 2007, I became the research scientist and, in 2015, I became research director of the MCW Free Radical Research Center. I am now an assistant professor in the Department of Biophysics.
I have expertise in the redox chemistry of biologically relevant compounds and bioanalytical techniques used in the area of oxidative stress research. I have a strong background in free radical chemistry and chemical and biochemical kinetics. I am experienced in a variety of analytical techniques including high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with absorption, fluorescence, mass spectrometric, and electrochemical detection. I have co-authored 70 publications on various aspects of free radical chemistry and biochemistry, on the methodology of the detection of free radicals in biological systems, as well as on cellular bioenergetics as a target for development of new therapeutics. I have served as an editorial board member of Free Radical Biology and Medicine since since 2012.
Research Experience
- Antioxidants
- Boronic Acids
- Cell Line, Tumor
- Cell Proliferation
- Cyclic N-Oxides
- Cytochromes c
- Energy Metabolism
- Enzyme Inhibitors
- Ethidium
- Fluorescent Dyes
- Free Radical Scavengers
- Free Radicals
Methodologies and Techniques
- Blotting, Western
- Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid
- Electron Spin Resonance Spectroscopy
- Fluorescence
- Fluorometry
- High-Throughput Screening Assays
- Luminescence
- Luminescent Measurements
- Mass Spectrometry
- Pulse Radiolysis
- Spectrophotometry
- Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet
Research Interests
My current research interests focus on the development of new, rapid methods of detection of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species. My research involves probe design and synthesis; characterization of chemical reactivity of probes, including determination of the reaction products, stoichiometry, and kinetics; and application of various noninvasive and invasive detection modes for complete and rigorous characterization of cellular oxidants in vitro and in vivo.

The goal of developing new probes is to understand the chemical biology of cellular oxidants under physiological and pathophysiological conditions and to establish high-throughput screening protocols for the development of new inhibitors of NADPH oxidases and other enzymes producing reactive oxygen and nitrogen species for cardioprotection, neuroprotection, and cancer treatment.
Another of my research interests is exploiting the differences in bioenergetics profiles and redox status between normal and cancer cells for development of strategies to selectively target cancer cells. My research focuses on the design and development of compounds engineered to selectively accumulate in cancer cell mitochondria and induce bioenergetic and redox stress to stop cancer cell proliferation.

Lab Members
Aleksandra Grzelakowska, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow
Matea Juric, Research Technologist I
Collaborators
Dr. Micael Hardy, Aix-Marseille Universite, Marseille, France
Dr. Adam Sikora, Lodz University of Technology, Lodz, Poland
Dr. Radosław Podsiadły, Lodz University of Technology, Lodz, Poland
Dr. Radosław Michalski, Lodz University of Technology, Lodz, Poland
Publications
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SOD2 acetylation on lysine 68 promotes stem cell reprogramming in breast cancer.
(He C, Danes JM, Hart PC, Zhu Y, Huang Y, de Abreu AL, O'Brien J, Mathison AJ, Tang B, Frasor JM, Wakefield LM, Ganini D, Stauder E, Zielonka J, Gantner BN, Urrutia RA, Gius D, Bonini MG.) Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2019 Nov 19;116(47):23534-23541.
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(Besson E, Gastaldi S, Bloch E, Zielonka J, Zielonka M, Kalyanaraman B, Aslan S, Karoui H, Rockenbauer A, Ouari O, Hardy M.) Analyst. 2019 Jul 21;144(14):4194-4203.
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(Cheng G, Zielonka J, Hardy M, Ouari O, Chitambar CR, Dwinell MB, Kalyanaraman B.) Oncotarget. 2019 May 28;10(37):3518-3532.
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Targeting lonidamine to mitochondria mitigates lung tumorigenesis and brain metastasis.
(Cheng G, Zhang Q, Pan J, Lee Y, Ouari O, Hardy M, Zielonka M, Myers CR, Zielonka J, Weh K, Chang AC, Chen G, Kresty L, Kalyanaraman B, You M.) Nat Commun. 2019 05 17;10(1):2205.
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(Kalyanaraman B, Cheng G, Zielonka J, Bennett B.) Cell Biochem Biophys. 2019 Mar;77(1):89-98.
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(Zielonka J, Zielonka M, Kalyanaraman B.) Methods Mol Biol. 2019;1982:243-258.
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High-Throughput Screening of NOX Inhibitors.
(Zielonka J, Zielonka M, Cheng G, Hardy M, Kalyanaraman B.) Methods Mol Biol. 2019;1982:429-446.
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(Radi R, Denicola A, Morgan B, Zielonka J.) Free Radic Biol Med. 2018 11 20;128:1-2.
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Small-molecule luminescent probes for the detection of cellular oxidizing and nitrating species.
(Zielonka J, Kalyanaraman B.) Free Radic Biol Med. 2018 11 20;128:3-22.
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Kindlin-3 negatively regulates the release of neutrophil extracellular traps.
(Xu Z, Ni B, Cao Z, Zielonka J, Gao J, Chen F, Kalyanaraman B, White GC, Ma YQ.) J Leukoc Biol. 2018 09;104(3):597-602.
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(Cheng G, Zielonka M, Dranka B, Kumar SN, Myers CR, Bennett B, Garces AM, Dias Duarte Machado LG, Thiebaut D, Ouari O, Hardy M, Zielonka J, Kalyanaraman B.) J Biol Chem. 2018 06 29;293(26):10363-10380.
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(Pan J, Lee Y, Cheng G, Zielonka J, Zhang Q, Bajzikova M, Xiong D, Tsaih SW, Hardy M, Flister M, Olsen CM, Wang Y, Vang O, Neuzil J, Myers CR, Kalyanaraman B, You M.) iScience. 2018 May 25;3:192-207.